QUETTA/ ISLAMABAD/ KARACHI/ LAHORE:
In a major upset in the Senate election, Yousaf Raza Gilani, the joint candidate of opposition parties, has been elected senator from Islamabad, by defeating Abdul Hafeez Sheikh of PTI.
Both candidates could be seen shaking hands after the announcement of the results. Supporters of Gillani shouted slogans in his favour in the National Assembly.
As per the unofficial results, Gillani got 169 votes whereas Shaikh could only get 164 votes. Seven votes were rejected by the ECP officials.
Polling for Senate election was completed in the National Assembly along with three provincial assemblies – Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
Polling was delayed in the K-P Assembly due to late arrival of lawmakers. It has been completed with the final vote cast by Shahram Khan Tarakai from the PTI.
Apart from Jamaat-e-Islami all other political parties participated in the upper house of parliament’s elections which ended without any untoward incident.
Following are the unofficial results coming in from the National Assembly and three provinces:
Sindh
PPP and MQM-P candidates Palwasha Khan and Khalida Ateeb from Sindh Assembly won the seats on reserved seats for women, according to unofficial results.
Balochistan
JUI-F’s candidate Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Independent candidate Abdul Qadir and BNP’s Mohammad Qasim have each been elected to a general seat.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
Results are awaiting from K-P.
National Assembly
PDM candidate Yousuf Raza Gillani emerged victorious against his opponent PTI’s Hafeez Shaikh from Islamabad.
Prime Minister Imran Khan along with other notables including Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and PPP Co-Chiarman cast their votes.
#Live: Polling process underway in Parliament House, Islamabad https://t.co/lzwXraB0Ld— Radio Pakistan (@RadioPakistan) MARCH 3, 2021
During the day, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja visited the National Assembly Hall to review the polling process.
Voting began at 09:00 am and went on till 5:00 pm without any break.
Polling was due on 37 seats of the 104-member house. The National Assembly members voted for one general seat and one women’s seat from Islamabad. Voting was held for 11 seats of Sindh and 12 each of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
However, In Punjab, there were 11 seats but thanks to the efforts of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q) leadership all the senators have been elected unopposed. Therefore, there will be no polling was held in Punjab.
Overall, 48 senators will be elected this year.